


The Wedding

by squiddlebite



Category: Belgariad/Malloreon Series - David & Leigh Eddings
Genre: F/M, The wedding, implied sex at the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-10
Updated: 2014-03-10
Packaged: 2018-01-15 05:51:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1293688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/squiddlebite/pseuds/squiddlebite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prince Kheldar and the Margravine Liselle may be a perfect match, but Silk still has his doubts about getting married.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Wedding

     The wedding of Prince Kheldar of Drasnia, cousin to King Kheva and nephew to Regent Porenn, to Margravine Liselle, niece of Margrave Khendon, chief of Drasnian Intelligence took place in Boktor in the Temple of Belar adjacent to the Palace. Silk had wanted a small wedding, rather inconspicuous and understated due to the fact that he was becoming a married man though he vowed not to, but Liselle would not have that. Just like any woman, Silk observed, the honey-blonde woman wanted nearly everyone they had ever even passed on the street invited, and flowery displays and drawn out ceremony.

      Despite his love for the Margravine Liselle, Silk was not looking forward to this. He had always told people that he would never become a married man, and yet he was doing just that. He stood on the dais, dressed in a pearl grey doublet and hoes, wild eyed and sweating profusely. The rat-faced little man stared out at the audience before him. He saw King Belgarion of Riva, tall and blonde, wearing blue as he always does, sitting next to tiny Queen Ce’Nedra, as lovely as ever with her copper curls tumbling over one shoulder. He sought out others as well: Mandorallen and Baroness Narena, Lelldorin and Lady Ariana, the huge Barak and his wife Merel, the hawk-faced Hettar and Adara, Belgarath and the tawny-haired Poledra, Polgara and Durnik, of course, and even Relg and Taiba. The wiry Javelin sat smirking at one side of the hall.

     His chest tightened as his eyes fell upon his deformed mother, sitting happily next to Porenn and Kheva, unaware that all traces of her former beauty were gone. Although she was blind, it seemed almost as if her eyes pierced into Silk, with a dreadful intensity that made him look away sharply. Many others sat in the temple, but he did not find them as important except for the fact that it just made him even more nervous. Silk was fine with large crowds, as long as he was amongst them. When you’re standing alone on a conspicuous dais before them, however, it just seemed to violate his sense of security.

     Just when he thought he couldn’t bear to stand there any longer, he heard the sound of trumpets from the opposite end of the hall, and the huge doors opened. Out walked the Margravine Liselle. Silk’s eyes very nearly bulged from their sockets. She wore an intricately woven white gown, cut rather low at the neckline Silk noted, and it was shorter in the front and cascaded down to become longer in the back. The top half of her hair sat in complex braids atop her head, and the bottom half flowed in honey-blonde waves across her shoulders. Silk swallowed hard as she gracefully strode down the aisle, her eyelashes downcast. Then, she looked up directly at Silk with a look of smug satisfaction playing in her eyes. That made him even more uneasy, and he began to tremble slightly.

     It seemed the day after forever when she finally reached the dais and stepped up beside him. The priest of Belar droned on with interminable ceremony, yet all Silk could think about was how he should find an escape route and run. However, for some reason he could not take his eyes off of Liselle, as if she were holding his gaze with some unseen force. Silk vaguely heard the priest ask if he consented to marriage of the smug woman in front of him, and he spoke as surely as he could muster.

     “I do.” His voice only slightly waivered, but he kept his eyes on Liselle to avoid the mocking grins of his friends in the crowd. Then, the priest asked for Liselle’s consent to marriage of ‘Prince Kheldar of Drasnia’.

     “I do.” Liselle spoke in a clear, rich voice with extreme grace. Silk’s knees weakened. Then came the part of the ceremony that Silk had most feared. He did not particularly enjoy kissing people in public, but that wasn’t that problem. It was the fact that he had to deliberately show weakness in front of a huge audience by doing it. (He had a reputation to uphold, you understand.) For so many years he had vowed that he would never marry, and the fact that he was taking part in a huge ceremony doing just the opposite was rather humiliating. Kissing Liselle in public amplified that humiliation. Finally, the priest spoke the dreaded words.

     “You may kiss the bride.”

     Silk was hoping for a quick polite peck, just because they had to do it, but Liselle had other ideas. As Silk leaned in, she grabbed his doublet and pulled him into her, wrapping her arms around his neck, kissing him soundly and at great length. When she finally released him, he was nearly gasping and trembling violently. Just by that example of power, he knew that he was doomed. Then he turned to face the audience only to see the suppressed mirth on all of his friends’ faces.

      The reception was just as flowery as the ceremony. Liselle decided to take Ce’Nedra’s idea of making the reception a ball. Silk wasn’t really bad at dancing, having a noble upbringing, but he didn’t particularly enjoy the activity either. Besides, it would just increase the humiliation among his friends. There was no arguing with Liselle, however. She was going to get her way if she had to hold a dagger to his throat—which she probably would’ve done. Silk sighed and, offering his arm to his…wife… he paced toward the group of people next to the dance floor. Liselle went over to the group of ladies while Silk, almost shamefully, walked up to his friends.

                “Silk!” It was Barak. He emerged from the crowd and clapped him on the back, with Durnik and Hettar alongside him. “You’re a married man now!”

                “Oh, don’t remind me.” Silk replied sourly.

                “Well, isn’t this whole wedding one big reminder?” Durnik asked roguishly.

                “So I don’t need any help from you.”

                Garion, Mandorallen and Lelldorin walked up to join them.

                “Silk! Congratulations.” Garion said, grinning at the little thief.

                “Thanks.” Silk replied drily.

                “Don’t you love the Margravine Liselle?” Lelldorin questioned.

                “Of course I do, but I’m not the sort of man that suits married life.”

                “I hath noticed that thy profession doth require certain attributes that most husbands doth not attain.” Mandorallen replied in his archaic speech. Silk smiled wryly. Then Barak spoke with a mischievous look on his huge, bearded face.

                “Of course, once you are married to a woman there are certain… activities… that are allowed then.” He said, grinning wickedly. Silk returned that grin. Barak, Hettar, Lelldorin and Mandorallen burst out laughing, knowingly, but Durnik and Garion looked rather embarrassed by that comment.

                Next was the dancing. Of course, also taking Ce’Nedra’s idea, Silk and Liselle were to be the first ones on the dance floor—alone. Silk tried not to look _too_ sour as he offered Velvet his arm and crossed to the center of the floor. As the music began—a slightly upbeat melody consisting mainly of violins— he took her waist in one arm and her hand in the other. The dance was moderately complex, but they were both nimble and agile enough to take it on with ease.

                “How many spies would you say are watching this at the moment?” Silk asked Velvet with a certain anxiety in his voice that he tried to suppress.

                “I’ve noticed three so far, but I suspect there are at least five or so more.” Liselle replied coolly.

                “Lovely.” He responded dryly.

                “What’s the matter Kheldar?” Velvet inquired smugly, “Don’t want news of your _wonderful_ dancing reaching everyone in Drasnian Intelligence?”

                “Oh how you know me.” Silk told her disparagingly. She smiled mischievously and continued dancing.

                Once the dance was over, everyone else took the floor with their wives. The second song had a slower beat, and everyone seemed to dance contentedly with their partner. Liselle went to dance with her father, and since Silk could not dance with his mother, considering she was blind, he asked Queen Porenn to dance.

                Queen Porenn of Drasnia had stopped dressing in mourning for her deceased husband, and instead wore a pink, satin gown that flowed nicely to the floor. Porenn seemed extremely happy for Silk, which most likely stemmed from the fact that she had the deepest sympathy for his former love for her, and was very pleased to find that he had found someone else. Silk looked knowingly at her, the self-mocking expression that had always been there while in her presence vanished, and then gave her a wry smile. They talked idly for the duration of the dance, then Silk thanked her and returned to the Margravine Liselle.

                The banquet was exquisite, and Barak probably ate most of it. He was a very huge man, after all. Perfectly roasted chickens and warm biscuits sat on silver platters among other immaculately prepared food items. Silk, however, could not eat very much. He was still somewhat wild-eyed and his stomach was not completely stable. Though he did not eat, Silk did drink a good amount of ale. The talk was cheerful, especially after everyone had a good dose of ale in their bellies. People began to get rowdy, and Silk watched Liselle as her expression became one of more and more contempt.

                “Why don’t we head to our room?” It wasn’t much of a question as she eyed the roguish men primly.

                “Now that doesn’t sound like a bad idea.” Silk replied mildly, but with a slightly impish look in his eyes. They both rose and announced that they would be leaving. He offered his wife his arm and they strode from the hall to the room they were staying at in the palace. Out of the corner of his eye Silk caught the wicked grin on Barak’s face.

                When they reached the room, Silk wrapped his arms about Liselle and smiled, but then Liselle pulled away a bit nervously.

                “There wouldn’t be any spies watching us, would there?” There was an uncharacteristic quavering in her voice. Silk considered it.

                “Mmm… one probably. But once he confirms what we’re up to he’ll leave. The palace spies do have a certain amount of propriety, you know.” Velvet seemed to relax slightly, but she still had an uneasy look cast over the chestnut irises of her eyes. “Oh come now, dear. He’s probably going to leave any minute now.” That seemed to calm her tension. She flashed him a winsome smile, then kissed him seriously, her hands going to his hair.

                The rest of the evening with his wife was… pleasurable.

**Author's Note:**

> Contributing to the ever so small Belgariad fandom! I know you're out there!


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